Sri Lanka's savage smokescreen

Sri Lanka's former attorney general Mohan Peiris, who is now
the senior legal adviser to the cabinet and who many Sri Lankans say is aiming
to become the next Supreme Court Chief Justice, has made conflicting statements
about missing journalist Prageeth
Eknelygoda. The discrepancies do more than point up the government's
indifference to Eknelygoda's fate and the mental anguish of his wife and two
sons. Peiris's statements highlight the disregard with which the government
views international opinion.

In Geneva on November 8, in
a prepared response to questions about Sri Lanka's human rights record from
the Office for the High Commissioner for Human Rights' Subcommittee on
Prevention of Torture and other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or
Punishment, Peiris said, "An investigation into the abduction of Prageeth Eknelygoda
is being conducted by the Homagama police and by the CCD [Colombo Crimes
Division]. Investigation is being continued. So far no one has been arrested in
this connection." (See page 46 of that official document.)

But, according
to the Asian Human Rights Commission, in a question and answer session
after the presentation, Peiris said that, according to reliable information, Eknelygoda
has taken refuge in a foreign country and that the campaign against his
disappearance is a hoax. Peiris failed to provide detailed information about where
Eknelygoda had fled, the AHRC correspondent said.

Well aware of Eknelygoda's case, some diplomatic sources in
Colombo say Peiris's statements have caused concern, and a few missions have
asked the police and the president's office for clarification. Peiris's statement
that Eknelygoda "is living in a foreign country as a refugee -- going against
the official written response and without stating where or based on what
sources -- is just another smoke screen, I'm afraid," one diplomatic source
told CPJ.

When CPJ asked Sandhya Eknelygoda about Peiris's claims, she
was incredulous. In remarks translated from Sinhala by a family friend, she
told CPJ:

If my husband is hiding as was mentioned by Peiris he would
never have stayed without contacting me. He loves our children and would not
put us through such pain. Mohan Peiris says he knows where my husband is. I
want him brought to me if his claims are true.

For almost two years, the family has been asking the Sri
Lankan government for any information about Prageeth, who was a columnist and cartoonist. Not
one government official has given them any information, and despite Peiris's
claims that the case remains under investigation, other than to set new court
dates there has been no movement in the case.

Another note, not unrelated: The report on human rights
abuses in the aftermath of the decades-long conflict with Tamil secessionists
prepared by the government's Lessons Learned and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC)
will be presented to Rajapaksa around November 22. The report will then be tabled
in Parliament, but will probably not be taken up for discussion or acted on
until next year. The national budget will be presented on November 21 and the
ensuing debate will carry on through December, after which Parliament will
recess. The timing of the tabling means its official release will be delayed
for two months, though details are sure to start leaking as soon as Parliament
gets the report.

The government organized the LLRC in the hopes of heading
off an international investigation into the brutal conflict, despite calls from
the U.N. for an international role in dealing with the aftermath. (It is worth
noting that international media coverage of the eight-member commission was
prohibited.) The government's international
diplomatic offensive has already begun.

Sri Lanka's Permanent Representative to the United Nations,
Palitha Kohona, told the U.N. last week of the LLRC's interim recommendations.
Many of them have already been implemented by the government, Kohona said.

A March
2011 report by a panel of experts appointed by Secretary-General Ban called
the LLRC "deeply flawed." It recommended that the government should end
practices that limit freedom of movement and freedom of expression "or
otherwise contribute to a climate of fear."

Amid a steady crackdown
on any media critical of the government, that climate of fear not only
continues for Sandhya Eknelygoda and the couple's two teenage sons, but has
been exacerbated by Mohan Peiris' remarks at the hearings in Geneva, and his
facile response to the questions that followed.

UPDATE: The duration of Rajapaksa's term has been corrected in the second paragraph.

Bob Dietz, coordinator of CPJ’s Asia Program, has reported across the continent for news outlets such as CNN and Asiaweek. He has led numerous CPJ missions, including ones to Afghanistan, Pakistan, the Philippines, and Sri Lanka. Follow him on Twitter @cpjasia and Facebook @ CPJ Asia Desk.

Comments

The current corrupt family dictatorship of Sri Lanka is full of lies. They are experts in talking from both ends, but which ever the end, they are all lies, nothing but lies. There is no media freedom, any site that exposes the activities of the corrupt regime will be shut down. Intimidation & fear rule the Country. The citizens have lost all their rites. Police hares the innocent and protect the criminals. People have no faith in the justice system as it is politicised. Country is going from bad to worse

What have you done to protect Julian Ausange, the editor and founder of the Vikieleak?? He is being harassed in the west and financially ruined to prevent free media. You have remained silence because you are a mouth piece of the same imperialist forces. These critics of Sri Lankan state are not real journalists, but political party members who work as agents of foreign elements. Real journalists do not go around and invent stories to discredit the government.

The sad story about Prageeth is similar to the one before of Chief Editor Lassantha Wickrematunge on an endless journey causing despair either until people forget about it or until people connected to the murders or abduction die,of whatever reason. The same fate is already on the cards about the LLRC!Perhaps sometime in 2012 for the information of the public? Or even after 2013 after the next CHOGM? Bound to leak after it is presented to Parliament. If it is indeed a good and factual report why is there this cat and mouse game ad infinitum?